1001 Books for Indonesian Children

Since 2002, 1001buku Foundation has been campaigning to provide equal access to books for Indonesian children.

While technology and Internet access continue to grow in Indonesia, many children across the country–especially in rural areas–do not have access to books. From educational tomes to fairy tales, 1001buku Foundation hopes to provide equal access to books for these children.

1001buku is a nonprofit, volunteer-based organization focusing on motivating children to read and opening access to quality reading materials for children in Indonesia. Established in 2002, it was registered as a foundation a few years ago as a social, education-based organization in Indonesia.

It was founded by Upik Djalins, Ida Sitompul and Santi Soekanto; they were deeply concerned over the fact that Indonesian children had little access to reading materials. The community has since grown with a network of children reading parks spread across Java, Sumatra, Kalimantan, Maluku, Nusa Tenggara, Sulawesi and Papua.

The foundation also fosters a love for reading and building a reading culture amongst Indonesian children. This is achieved through volunteer-based activities involving local communities. Through this, they hope to cultivate interest amongst the public, particularly in creating equal access to quality reading materials for children.

As of now, 1001buku has collected and distributed more than 500,000 books to more than 500 community-run childrens libraries throughout the country. It is now supporting almost 400 active libraries in its network.

Feel free to donate new or otherwise used children’s books to 1001buku. If you’d like to find out more regarding the foundation, join as a volunteer or donate financially, please visit their website at http://www.1001buku.or.id or email them at [email protected].